Review of Forbidden Planet (1956) by John M — 02 Feb 2008

Few movies provide the sense of scale that Forbidden Planet does without sacrificing the smaller intimacies that make the film worth watching. The dialogue is engrossing and snappy without resorting to technobabble or miring the plot in melodrama, as so many films these days do to "say" something.

The effects hold up remarkably well and are better than anything else seen for nearly a decade. Truthfully, I doubt you could replace them with modern computer effects and have them retain the imperfections and variablility that makes them seem real.

In short, this film is very nearly perfect and should serve as a primer on how to makea good science fiction movie that holds up and people will want to return to over and over again.